I. SHORT PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Daily Dance brings together international dancers in celebration of the divine feminine, to embody balance and equanimity, to awaken emptiness and compassion. We gather in community, joyfully harmonizing body, speech and mind. We combine movement, song and vibration with yoga, consciously using our bodies as vehicles for enlightenment. Based on Prema Dasara’s Tara Dhatu teachings, we dance online every day in praise of Tara’s 21 Qualities, for the long life of our teacher and all true wisdom teachers, to establish motivation for our dharma practice, and to take in the Buddha, Dharma and noble .

II. PRIMARY USE OF FUNDS: The primary use of funds requested is to open and maintain a Daily Dharma Dance office for one year in Gardiner, New York (less than two-hours outside of ), daily, virtual dance pujas, and special teachings, in homage to our Great Mother Tara. This will lead to the establishment of Tara Temple of New York in five year’s time.

There are precious few dharma centers dedicated to our Great Mother Tara, in celebration of the divine feminine. The time is now!

Through the good graces of a personal friend, I have secured a private office at a third under retail market value.

Funding will allow this space to become a tiny pure-land dedicated to: ● Broadcast daily dance pujas ● Host small, in-person dance pujas and teachings ● Record special monthly teachings ● Manage the Daily Dharma Dance project

An office will professionalize and legitimize Daily Dharma Dance, attracting further sponsors and funding, to achieve the aspiration of a Tara Temple.

In addition, funding will help expand daily offerings from one (currently) to three dance pujas, including: ● Morning: Long Life Prayer for Prema Dasara, Preliminaries (Prayer of Motivation; Shantideva; Refuge & Bodhichitta), Dance of Tara's 21 Qualities, Dedication of

● Noon: Preliminaries, Vajrasattva, Dedication of Merit

● Evening: Preliminaries, White Tara, Dedication of Merit

Expanding daily pujas will allow many more practitioners, in different countries and time zones, to join. Because we dance every morning on the East Coast of America, our sangha has members from Toronto, through New York state and City, down to Florida, Costa Rica and Chile. Tara’s net is wide, but we wish to extend it wider.

Dancing in community, in real time, in different geo locations around the globe, is incredibly powerful medicine for the planet.

More motivated practitioners means more active and more virtuous activity. We were the inspiration for a Tricycle article (https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/tara-dances/) during COVID. [The writer, Karen Greenspan, is a member of our sangha.]

Funding will help support in-person, full moon dance gatherings, which benefit practitioners in or around New Paltz/Woodstock/Hudson, NY, including the many spiritual seekers who travel through the region. (In-person gatherings will always include a virtual component.)

Outdoor, in-person gatherings are planned for June, July and August in New Paltz, with the gracious support of local business, Groovy Blueberry.

Funding will also help support special (in-person and virtual) teachings and retreats, integrating core principles from dharma teachings, Tara Dhatu dance pujas, and information from the Whole Life Elimination Diet.

Daily Dharma Dance is planning a weekend in September at ESKFF NEST in Woodstock, focused on radiant health, utilizing Tara dancing as a vehicle for discipline and wellbeing. Funding also helps support the virtual 24-Hour Mini-Monlam, created in 2021, which functions as a virtual gar: a safe refuge where practitioners gather in communal solitude to continuously practice a single for 24-hours. The Monlams have included teachings from Ani Lekshe Tsomo, Tenam Shastri and Prajwal R. Vajracharya.

III. WHO BENEFITS MOST/GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION: EVERYONE benefits from Daily Dharma Dance, including our precious Mother Earth!

Tara dance pujas are available online, free to all.

Tara dancing is for women and men, young and old, monastics and lay-practitioners, Buddhists and non-Buddhists. Tara dancing raises the vibration and aids digestion.

It is primarily practiced by women because it was created by women to praise Mother Tara and the divine feminine. We NEED MORE MEN dancing with us to help counteract the toxic masculinity destroying our world.

Tara Dancers, who took the vow to reincarnate in female form until all are liberated from Samsara, help tip the scales toward manifesting the divine feminine here on earth, which benefits us ALL.

Special teachings and retreats will be held in and around New Paltz, and in conjunction with ESKFF NEST, surrounded by ancient mountains and flowing rivers. These teachings will benefit the enormous number of dharma students and spiritual seekers of many traditions who flock here, and will also be available online.

“Tara Tames the Eight Fears,” a special teaching series for children, can be offered both virtually and in-person. It is my intention to expand these teachings. IV. HOW THE PROJECT WILL PROCEED (w/or w/out FUNDING): Daily Dharma Dance has been operating every day, with zero budget (aside from my personal bank account), for more than one year. It is a public service, a labor of love, that I intend to continue indefinitely.

My dharma sisters have encouraged me to seek funding and think big, and so I am!

Without funding, Daily Dharma Dance cannot grow, but it will continue nonetheless, inspiring daily practice, the creation of other virtual, daily practice sanghas, and generating an ocean of merit.

Daily Dharma Dance is incredibly meaningful personally, and for the other practitioners. I cannot imagine life without it. Its ripples are vast and profound. It will continue on, in Tara’s light.

Daily Dharma Dance is not accomplished by myself alone. I have guidance from my dear teacher, Prema Dasara, who always knows what to say; inspiration from my dharma sisters, who show up every single day to dance; and sisterhood from my fellow Tara Dhatu facilitators. What we lack in dollars, we make up in dedication and sincere practice.

But now is the time for Tara to step out of the shadows and onto the main stage. The world needs Tara’s wisdom, compassion and power more than ever!

V. ORIGINS OF DAILY DHARMA DANCE: The original seed for Daily Dharma Dance was planted in the summer of 2016, when I first encountered the Tara Dhatu Tara dance practice. I was leaving KTD (Karma Triyana ) in Woodstock when my dharma sister grabbed my arm and asked, “Do you have your camera?”

I stayed to photograph an extraordinary display: more than 50 practitioners dancing Tara in the courtyard, led by Prema Dasara. Karthar and other venerable watched from atop the shrine stairs, blessing the practice. Prema facilitated masterfully, effortlessly incorporating both new and experienced dancers. She introduced the White Tara dance, inviting anyone feeling sick or in need of healing or extra energy into the center of the circle. I circled the periphery, photographing the dance and the Lamas.

When I stepped inside the circle, everything shifted and the magic kicked-in. I went from being an observer, to an active recipient of enormous amounts of love and healing energy. It was overwhelming. Without knowing it at the time, this was the moment I first dedicated myself to Tara.

When Prema and the Tara Dhatu dancers visited Woodstock the next summer, I photographed the entire weekend retreat, becoming more closely acquainted with Prema, the dances, and long-time facilitators and practitioners.

Tara was drawing me closer.

I had practiced Green Tara puja with the KTD Lamas many times, but found it extremely difficult to chant and mentally challenging.

In Spring of 2018, I was extraordinarily fortunate to travel to Brazil to photograph and film the Tara Dhatu Brasilia Monlam. On the last day of the Monlam, I was able to don a saree and participate in the Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara, with the expert assistance of a senior Tara Dhatu facilitator. This was a life-altering event and I began chanting Green Tara’s mantra non-stop at this time.

Almost immediately following the Monlam, I visited Hawaii, the birthplace of the Tara Dhatu dances, to spend time with Prema and other experienced dancers. At the time, Prema offered me a complimentary year of the teacher training program, which I accepted, but didn’t embark upon.

That Fall, I spent three months living in Germany, editing the Monlam video and photos. When I returned to Woodstock in January of 2019, I went through several major life events: leaving a toxic personal relationship, and shifting my diet and lifestyle resulting in radical, rapid weight loss. Each had its own extraordinary impact. In Spring of 2019, now that my health was in order, I had incredible amounts of pure energy. Wide awake every morning at 4am (retreat time!), I started attending KTD’s morning Green Tara puja, which I had always wanted to do.

Suddenly, the sadhana became effortless and rolled off my tongue. I could chant with ease, blow the conch and ring the bell. Tara was speaking through me. The Lamas pushed the practice deeper and deeper inside me. I went every day for months.

In May, Tara Dhatu held a retreat at the Abode of the Message (New Lebanon, NY). Prema requested that I photograph, but I opted instead to dance.

At the end of the retreat, a ceremony was held for those who wished to make vows to Tara. We received TUM pendants, symbolizing our devotion.

After the retreat, I immediately began organizing and leading monthly full moon dance circles in Woodstock, including live Tara Band music.

In late Summer 2019, Tara Dhatu dancers were preparing for a yearly offering at the Sakya Monastery in Seattle, to receive the Green Tara empowerment from H.E. Dagmo Kusho Sakya, and dance the Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara in the shrine room. [I previously received Green Tara empowerment from a KTD , but Dagmo’s empowerment was another Tara-led, life-altering event!]

A new dancer needed (rapid!) training, so we began a daily 5am video call, after which I would attend Green Tara puja at KTD.

We both found the daily practice extremely beneficial and motivating, and vowed to continue meeting after Seattle.

Following Seattle, I went to Costa Rica for a month and our meetings became as sporadic as the wifi.

When I returned to the U.S. in January of 2020, we initiated our virtual meetings again. I invited the Tara Dhatu sangha to join, but there were no takers. In March, once the coronavirus hit, the world went on retreat. Nobody was commuting to work and monasteries were closed. We decided to meet at 8am (instead of 5am) and suddenly the Daily Dharma Dance sangha came to life!

Now, after more than one year of continuous, unbroken, daily practice and many special teachings, we continue to accumulate merit and inspire others. I wish to expand these inspired offerings and sincere practice.

VI. DAILY DHARMA DANCE PLAN: The Hudson Valley, home to Daily Dharma Dance, is a beautiful, serene and blessed environment. With its rocky mountains and flowing rivers, these historical lands attract international nature-lovers, spiritual-seekers and wisdom-holders in all seasons. This magical location is key to the project’s success.

There are nine Buddhists centers in New York state, and countless dharma and spiritual centers all over the Northeast. It is the home of The School, where Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche is a key Advisor.

The area is filled with “Red Way” practitioners, devoted to indigenous American traditions such as sweat lodges and purification retreats.

It is holy land, with the blessed feel of Sherabling.

Gardiner, New York (future office location) is equidistant between Karma Triyana Dharmachakra in Woodstock and Palpung Thubten Choling in Wappinger Falls. It is less than two hour’s drive from New York City, and one hour’s drive from Albany (New York State capitol).

It is the natural location for Tara dancing and virtuous Buddhist activity!

To fully fund Daily Dharma Dance for one year, the following elements are crucial (organized in order of importance/which will be funded first):

1. Open dedicated office space in Gardiner (a six minute drive from my dwelling) at a third under market retail price to: a. Run Daily Dharma Dance administrative activities including: i. Manage current operations ii. Seek future funding 1. Ongoing sponsors 2. Direct donations 3. Online crowdfunding 4. Grant writing

b. Create blessed environment for: i. Live daily dance pujas ii. Monthly full moon dance pujas iii. Monthly Tara 101 dance teachings iv. Recorded special dharma and health teachings v. Virtual quarterly 24-Hour Mini-Monlams

2. Create and disburse original social media and digital advertising content (Google Ad Words, etc.) to bring in new Taras from around the globe a. Maintain active social media presence inspiring virtuous dharma activities b. Provide example of/template for small, active, healthy, virtual sanghas which don’t need to revolve around ‘cult-of-personality’

3. Secure modest teaching salary for myself and other facilitators a. Expand teachers roster to include additional senior Tara Dhatu dance facilitators b. Expand from one to three daily dance puja offerings i. Multiply reach across time zones and countries ii. Offer morning puja in both English and Spanish

4. Facilitate monthly introductory classes for new Taras a. Doubles as refresher course for all dancers

5. Create original content for digital distribution on the following topics a. Conjunction between dharma and diet based on principles found in the Whole Life Elimination Diet and lived experience b. c. Help dharma practitioners prepare the body for fasting, prostrations and other physical/spiritual practices 6. Spread the dance a. Hold outdoor, public events in and around New Paltz, New York b. Visit dharma centers and continuously engage in Buddhist activities to expand the reach of Tara dancing to all

VII. ONE YEAR TIMELINE: As the only Tibetan Buddhists who dance Tara, and with our focus on the divine feminine, it is crucial that the grows. And through the diligence of our practice the pure dharma spreads. The time is now!

In one year’s time, Daily Dharma Dance will achieve the following:

1. ACTIVITY: Open office in Gardiner, New York TIMING: Immediate upon partial funding MILESTONES: Secure one-year lease OUTCOMES: Create home base which grows in 5-years into Tara Temple of New York

2. ACTIVITY: Resume hosting quarterly 24-Hour Mini-Monlam TIMING: Quarterly/ ongoing upon partial funding OUTCOMES: Inspire copycat 24-Hour Mini-Monlams

3. ACTIVITY: Continue hosting daily morning dance pujas TIMING: Daily / ongoing OUTCOMES: Inspire copycat, daily virtual sanghas

4. ACTIVITY: Continue planning bi-yearly (one remaining in 2021) ESKFF NEST in-person retreat in Woodstock, NY TIMING: Ongoing OUTCOMES: Recruit new (Buddhist and non-Buddhist) Tara dancers and share information on creating and maintaining health

5. ACTIVITY: Continue hosting monthly public/outdoor dance pujas in New Paltz, NY TIMING: Monthly / ongoing, weather permitting OUTCOMES: Recruit new (Buddhist and non-Buddhist) Tara dancers

6. ACTIVITY: Host monthly, in-person (and virtual) full moon gatherings TIMING: First full moon after partial funding MILESTONES: Find sponsor space like yoga studio to host OUTCOMES: Advertise and grow the dance in local and surrounding communities to recruit new (Buddhist and non-Buddhist) Tara dancers

7. ACTIVITY: Design, produce and disseminate digital advertising TIMING: One month after full funding OUTCOMES: Recruit new (Buddhist and non-Buddhist) Tara dancers, both local and international

8. ACTIVITY: Integrate daily afternoon puja TIMING: Two months after full funding OUTCOMES: Inspire and expand Tara dance sanghas across additional countries, time zones and languages

9. ACTIVITY: Resume monthly Tara 101 Live Teachings for beginners TIMING: Three months after full funding OUTCOMES: Support the practice of new (Buddhist and non-Buddhist) Tara dancers, both local and international

10. ACTIVITY: Integrate daily evening puja TIMING: Four months after full funding OUTCOMES: Continued expansion of international Tara dancers

11.ACTIVITY: Secure year two / full project funding TIMING: Ongoing / twelve months after full funding OUTCOMES: Year one fully funded

VIII. HOW TO DEAL WITH UNEXPECTED OBSTACLES: There is no back-up plan for Daily Dharma Dance because Daily Dharma Dance IS the back-up plan! When the coronavirus hit and the world shut down, Daily Dharma Dance sprang into action, picking-up where monasteries and dharma centers left-off, providing practitioners with a safe space to come together to practice daily, in community.

The beauty and lessons of the coronavirus are manifold. COVID forced us to imagine and build a new world, where dharma could flourish without in-person contact, free from the social pressures, politics and patriarchy of many established centers.

Daily Dharma Dance was born of necessity and will continue because of the need for sangha, an evolving spiritual community that is easily accessible to all, every day, no matter where we live in the world.

I could not maintain this project alone and am so fortunate to have the loving support of my teacher, Prema Dasara, and other Tara Dhatu facilitators who lead daily pujas.

In the past, whenever there was a technical or personal issue (which happens!), the sangha always sprang into action and filled the gap. This will similarly happen with future obstacles (100%!). This is the beauty of community, the source of our collective strength and the reason that this practice will continue.

Tara dancing-guru yoga is a true movement that will continue to flow, like the dance itself, subsisting naturally and without force. This labor-of-love will continue because it is needed now more than ever and is supported by a loving sangha.

As the only Tibetan Buddhists who dance Tara, and focusing our energies on invoking the divine feminine, we have been seen as somewhat ‘fringe’ in the past. But through our continuous, sincere practice, we are helping to free more traditional Buddhist practitioners to recognize and embrace this as totally legitimate sadhana practice; to explore this beautiful form of divine supplication and moving without feeling that they are abandoning their traditional and practices.

Tara dancing is a profound meditation practice. It makes time, it doesn’t take time. It brings joy and light, lifts depression, clears the mind’s veils, removes obstacles, destroys negative thoughts and emotions. It leaves practitioners deeply changed in a very short amount of time. Even before COVID hit and the world shut down, many practitioners did not live geographically near a dharma center. Daily Dharma Dance offered and will continue to offer an antidote, an easy, safe (hygienic) way to connect daily with the three jewels, in a joyful expression of dance, music, chanting and dharma, no matter where you are in the world.

As scandals continue to proliferate the Buddhist community, virtual gars such as Daily Dharma Dance offer (especially women) a safe haven and refuge from the paternalism, culturalism and sexism of many dharma centers.

Observing first-hand (for example) the folly of a dharma practitioner requiring knee surgery after attempting 100,000 prostrations because ‘Khenpo told me to,’ there is a real need for more joyful expressions of pure dharma practice, offering alternatives to traditional sitting practice and prostrations.

Recalling an incident from several years ago with a fellow dharma-sister, we were waiting in the Tara Shrine Room at KTD one morning, just before 6am, for a Khenpo to lead the sadhana.

When Khenpo came in, he looked down at us and said, “Only two Taras?”

To which I replied, “Three Taras.”

He looked again and said, “Two Taras?”

I repeated again, “Three Taras.” I then pointed to myself, my dharma-sister and him.

To which he quickly replied, “I am not Tara, I am Chenrizig!”

As female Buddhist practitioners, we desperately need a safe space to practice that reflects ourselves, our bodies and our values -- invoking the divine feminine and honoring our wisdom. Daily Dharma Dance is our medicine -- our sacred mandala practice -- the creation, every day, of a pure-land of enlightened feminine energy where dakinins dance, and wisdom and compassion rule the day.

In these female bodies, on this planet, in this time, we will dance, plant our seeds of compassion, water them daily and sow new worlds of wisdom and compassion through our virtuous karmic actions. We will be the we wish to see in the world. We will embody the dance. We will become Tara, every day.

PLEASE SUPPORT US!

Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha.

IX. TARA DANCING FOR BUDDHISTS & NON-BUDDHISTS: Tara dancing is already practiced by many Buddhists!

My teacher, Prema Dasara has been developing and sharing the Tara dance practice for approximately 35-years, traveling the world training Tara Dhatu facilitators and dancers. We are located all over the , Canada, Brazil, Central and , Australia, Russia... and growing!

It is my aspiration to bring Tara dancing to China, a dream which has been blessed by Prema and important Lamas and teachers in my life.

This beautiful, joyful, fully embodied, body-speech-mind expression of the sacred Green Tara sadhana practice, and other Buddhist deity/ guru-yoga dances (White Tara, Vajrasattva, etc.), is a privilege to practice as a Buddhist and a woman. It has greatly enhanced my traditional Buddhist practices by deepening my understanding of the teachings.

Chanting in the shrine room, in Tibetan with the Lamas is magic, to be sure. But Tara dancing is its own kind of magic.

Because the Tara music is primarily in English, with Tibetan chanting in the background, we are able to connect to the meaning, in a deepening way, by hearing and singing our own native language. [You can hear some samples of the beautiful music on the taradhatu.org website.]

Most Tara Dhatu music is available in both Spanish and Portuguese, in addition to English, because of the large number of international practitioners.

At the same time, the Tibetan goes inside of us, infusing us with its transmission and high vibration. It is the best of both worlds.

For these same reasons, Tara dancing is also appealing to non-Buddhists. Music, singing and dancing are primal to all known human civilizations, as are worship of nature and the divine.

Tara dancing effortlessly combines all these elements to engage everyone who comes into its presence and leaves no one unchanged.

On a recent morning, as I was dancing in the yard with my sangha (on the computer), the man driving the recycling truck waved at me as he pulled away from our house.

It occurred to me that every human being in every star system knows that a woman dancing in a garden is an instrument of peace.

One long-time Tara dancer and facilitator told me, “I am not a Buddhist!”

Any practice that brings together Buddhists and non-Buddhists, to take refuge in the Buddha, dharma and noble sangha, to sing, dance and laugh together -- to learn compassion, interdependence, karma and emptiness -- is an endeavor worthy of support.

This is exactly why I dedicate my time, energy, inspiration, good will and resources to Daily Dharma Dance.

Please come on board and help this beautiful movement flourish!

X. MEASURING IMPACT: I am so fortunate that I do not have to wonder how Daily Dharma Dance will impact people because I get to hear, see and feel it in action every day!

This past year, during the coronavirus lock-down/shut-downs all over the world, more than ever, we humans needed a way to come together and connect--not just to survive, but to form new spiritual communities and thrive--which is exactly what we have done.

Dancing in community, every day, we see each others’ good, bad and ugly. It all comes out through the dance--in a safe and nurturing environment.

People come in one mood, sometimes sad, sometimes worried--and leave feeling completely different--uplifted, empowered and enlivened.

Tara dancing wakes us up, activates our own inner wisdom and helps generate a healthy body.

At the end of practice, we dedicate the merit to the virtue and merit of all beings. We share our motivation, our deepest hopes, fears and dreams. We tell stories and lessons-learned from the coronavirus. We keep each other’s spirits high!

Because of our ‘forced worldwide retreat’ in 2020, Daily Dharma Dance helped to deepen our connection to and love for one another--without ever physically touching. We experienced interdependence and emptiness on a new and profound level--and were able to articulate and share it with the sangha.

Every morning, we honor and pay homage to our beloved teacher, Prema Dasara, and all true wisdom teachers.

We establish our motivation for practice.

We pray for freedom for all beings, wherever they may be.

We take refuge in the enlightened ones, our teachers, the teachings and the spiritual community. We promise to seek enlightenment for the sake of all beings. When we dance Tara’s 21 Qualities, we slowly become Tara, a radiant rainbow light being, whose beauty attracts others to her, so that she may teach them.

The dance makes us more beautiful so that we may attract others to us--liberation through dancing!

We practice , giving and receiving the light, praying for the end of violence, sickness, poverty and war in our world.

We end with the prayer of dedication--that all beings may be happy, all beings may be free.

Our dance helps restore the balance of feminine energy here on earth, in this time. We believe this is wise use of our precious time and contributes enormous benefit toward the enlightenment of all sentient beings.

I aspire and pray that Daily Dharma Dance will continue to flourish and grow. We have already come so far but with financial support and in-kind funding, we can do so much more!

Before Daily Dharma Dance, Prema herself didn’t believe that many of these dance practices could be done through Zoom.

But Daily Dharma Dance now exists with the unconditional support of and guidance from Prema, in addition to the other virtual groups, in different time zones, who began practicing these wonderful dance sadhanas every day.

This example is just another wonderful, unforseen blessing of the coronavirus--the ability of our beloved teachers to let go of outdated notions about in-person-only transmissions, embrace evolution, and meet their students where they are at.

Daily Dharma Dance will continue to hold space every day for Tara’s shower of blessings to manifest. We will continue dancing in bliss and joy, constantly turning our minds toward the dharma. Always becoming Tara. Once the office is open, we will officially start counting specific success metrics, including all activities outlined in the timeline.

It is incredibly important to inspire my dharma family to form sister-sanghas, so we may continue to share our wisdom and sincere practice with one another.

The practice itself is so powerful, it will continue generating immeasurable oceans of merit.

XI. TRADITIONS AT THE ROOT OF DAILY DHARMA DANCE & HOW SUPPORTS BUDDHISM: As the only Tibetan Buddhists who dance Tara, and especially as lay-practitioners, Tara Dhatu Tara dancers are unique! However, Tara Dhatu ritual dances are directly based on traditional Tibetan and practices. And this ocean of wisdom directly feeds Daily Dharma Dance.

Over the last 30+ years, the Tara Dhatu dances have been witnessed and blessed, many times over, by great masters from all the Tibetan Buddhist lineages, in particular by H.H. the 14th , H.H. the 17th and H.E. the 12th , in the United States, Canada, and .

Tai Situpa convinced my teacher and lineage holder, Prema Dasara (grudgingly), that Tara is its own lineage. Prema writes about him in her book, Dancing Tara: A Manual of Practice.

“He told us that the dance had become not only a practice that was an accumulation of merit, but also an accumulation of wisdom… He said that as a lineage practice it was precious, a vehicle of enlightened mind… Tara’s lineage.”

In addition to Tibetan Buddhist practices, the Tara Dhatu dances are also heavily influenced by Nepal’s Buddhist Charya dance lineage. In the 1980’s, Prema’s teacher in Nepal was Charya Nritra dancing master, Ratna Kaji Vajracharya, father to Prajwal R. Vajracharya (Dance Mandal Temple Master in Portland, OR).

Prajwal attended the Tara Dhatu 2018 Brasilia Monlam as an honored guest, has many students who are also Tara dancers, and remains a major supporter. Charya practitioners dance Green Tara (men AND women)! These two lineages are like sisters, spanning cultures, countries and languages, bound together in homage to Tara.

The Tara Dhatu Tara dances brilliantly bridge the East-West gap. They joyfully combine Tibetan text and chanting, dharma concepts and teachings, western-style music, and Indian Odissi and Nepali Buddhist devotional dancing. The result is an accessible form of embodied, moving meditation that can take us deeper and deeper inside the pure dharma, with the ultimate goal of utilizing our precious bodies as vehicles for enlightenment.

The words are sung in English, Spanish or Portuguese, with Tibetan chanting. The songs are hauntingly beautiful, transmitting deep dharma teachings derived from traditional Buddhist texts. Notable song contributors include Mercedes Bahleda and Anahata Iradah.

Tara Dhatu students are incredibly fortunate to have a living teacher, in female form, to receive transmissions. Prema is currently leading a series of teachings on the Seven Points of Mind Training.

Every day, we awaken with a beginner's mind and are grateful to come together and practice the preliminaries.

The Dance of Tara’s 21 Qualities, the heart of our daily practice, is the embodied form of the traditional Green Tara sadhana. In and of itself, it is an incredibly profound practice.

The music begins and we hear Anahata sing the following: “Homage to the rare and precious To the venerable Mother Tara we go for refuge Giving rise to wisdom and compassion We enter the profound path

We bow to purify arrogance We offer to purify greed We reveal all negativities to purify anger, hatred and war We rejoice to purify jealousy We request teachings to purify ignorance Tara stay purify our connection Whatever power we gather through this practice May it be for the empowerment of all And as the last veil falls away We reveal the mind’s radiance as the Goddess Tara

Om Tare!”

Once we arise as Tara, we dance her qualities: Tara 0: Wisdom, Compassion and Power Tara 1: Swift Protection Tara 2: Creative Wisdom Tara 3: Impeccable Virtue Tara 4: All Victorious Tara 5: Sublime Intelligence Tara 6: Worthy of Honor Tara 7: Invincible Courage Tara 8: Destroy Negativity Tara 9: True Refuge Tara 10: Joy and Laughter Tara 11: Distributor of Wealth Tara 12: Auspicious Beauty Tara 13: Irresistible Truth Tara 14: Ferocious Compassion Tara 15: Serene Peace Tara 16: Destroyer of Attachment Tara 17: Bliss and Joy Tara 18: Transformer of Poison Tara 19: Remover of Sorrow Tara 20: Radiant Health Tara 21: Complete Enlightenment

After we have danced all of Tara’s qualities, we have now become Tara in body, speech and mind. We go out into the world as Tara.

VII. EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS: I have been a practicing Buddhist since 2014. I consider myself a “Buddha baby” (beginner’s mind) and probably always will.

But things happened very rapidly for me, once I realized I am Buddhist.

I credit my extraordinary good fortune to my steadfast, past-life karmic ties to the precious Karma Kagyu and Tara Dhatu lineages.

I had an audience with H.H. the 17th Karmapa less than a year after taking refuge (at age 41) in the Karma Kagyu lineage with Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche at KTD.

Within two years of taking refuge, I moved out of New York City to Woodstock, to be near the monastery. I worked remotely since 2012 and was able to seamlessly transition to a retreat-like setting -- a one-room cottage, 10-minute’s drive from KTD -- where I attended puja twice a day (as possible) -- Green Tara at 6am, and Mahakala at 4:30pm.

This was an extraordinary time of my life. I experienced unusually accelerated spiritual and personal growth. External life became quieter and slower. I turned inward, connected with the land of Woodstock and my Buddhist lineages. My body became healthy, and my heart became wiser. It was a rare opportunity, before COVID, to spend time in the presence of lineage masters and great Lamas, receiving direct transmissions, empowerments and incredible oceans of wisdom.

Over the last seven years, so many extraordinary things have happened for me:

● Took refuge (second time), traveled with and photographed H.H. Karmapa and his labrung ● Photographed Karmapa circumambulating the new at KTD (photo went worldwide on Tibetan news) ● Photographed and multiple audiences with H.E. Tai Situ (New York and India), including his arrival in NYC in 2017 (photo went worldwide on Tibetan news) ● Attended the New York Kagyu Monlam, led by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, at Palpung Thubten Choling (KTC at the time) ● Received Green Tara empowerment from, and danced the 21 Qualities of Tara Mandala (in full costume, including mask and wig) for, H.E. Dagmo Kusho Sayka at the Sakya Monastery in Seattle ● Hosted 14th Quni JiangChu Rinpoche at KTC ● Traveled to Dance Mandal temple in Portland, OR multiple times to study with Vajrayana Charya Nritra priest and ritual master, Prajwal R. Vajracharya ● Hosted Lodro Nyima Rinpoche and his labrung overnight at family’s house ● Attended week-long Mandarava puja, and photographed master Chögyal Namkhai Norbu and Dzamling Gar yantra yoga leaders and practitioners, on Tenerife (mere months before Rinpoche’s passing) ● Spent time with Khenpo Kalsang Nyima in India ● Photographed Mingyur Rinpoche in New York City, Boston and India, including at Riverside Church in 2017 (photos used by Rinpoche in Hong Kong exhibition and book launch) ● Witnessed the ceremony of Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche at Karma Ling ● Organized and led Tara Band (live Tara music) ● Taught “Tara Tames The Eight Fears” to kids ● Photographed countless pujas and special events at KTD and PTC

And so many additional incredible events and direct transmissions -- which make me uniquely qualified to transmit the joy of these precious Tara dances and the deeper meaning behind them.

I co-created and taught a seven-part curriculum on Alzheimer’s disease and personal identity in a New York City public school. I have led several retreats on health and nutrition, combined with dharma, in addition to planning and assisting many KTD retreats.

To turn the clock back a bit further than seven years ago, I began mommy-daughter dance class lessons at age two, at the local community center with my mom. My dad still has the super 8mm film somewhere. I danced all the way through high school, touring my home county with a group of other young dancers.

I played in the school orchestra and bluegrass bands from age eight through the end of high school.

Dance and music have always been in my soul.

I attended college from 1990-1995, where I studied media criticism and earned a Bachelor's degree in filmmaking. I have subsequently worked in Hollywood filmmaking, talent management, sports entertainment, the legal profession and extensively in non-profits.

My critical writing and filmmaking skills have proven invaluable throughout my professional career and personal projects.

Once I took refuge in the three jewels, it became obvious that my time to teach had arrived. I felt it coming for a long time.

Khenpo Karma Tenkyong (KTD) insisted I take yoga teacher training, so I enrolled in a certification program in the city (where I was still living at the time). I began leading yoga classes within KTD retreats upon special request, and coming into my role as a teacher and a leader.

I will continue studying with such great masters as I’m able, for as long as I’m able, modeling myself after Tara every day, inspiring others to become Tara. This is the work. This is the life.

Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha.